Men convicted in Coutt border blockade want convictions overturned, Crown seeks new trials

Two men convicted of criminal mischief and firearms offenses for their roles in the 2022 Coutts border blockade want the Alberta Court of Appeal to overturn their convictions, while prosecutors are seeking new trials on the more serious charge of conspiring to kill RCMP officers. They were acquitted.

Four appeals, two for the Crown and two for the defence, have been lodged in the cases of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert, who were found guilty in August of criminal mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace.

Olienick was also convicted of possession of a pipe bomb.

King’s Court Judge David Labrenz sentenced the defendants to six and a half years in prison.

Both men were acquitted of the more serious charge of conspiring to murder RCMP officers.

The Crown is asking the province’s high court to hold new hearings on the conspiracy charges.

The defense is asking the appeals court to acquit the duo on weapons and conspiracy charges or to reduce their sentences.

Carbert and Olienick were arrested in 2022 after RCMP found guns, ammunition and body armor in trailers near the Coutts border blockade, which included protests against government-imposed pandemic health restrictions and vaccine mandates.

Jurors heard evidence that both men believed they were taking a necessary stand against political tyranny and injustice, but the judge said they could not be allowed to take the law into their own hands when sentencing the pair.

Jury verdicts ‘inconsistent’

The Crown outlined two grounds for appeal, stating its plan to argue that the trial judge erred in excluding relevant and admissible evidence and erred in his instructions to the jury.

Olienick listed the same reasons for requesting acquittal or, alternatively, a new trial.

Carbert’s attorney, Katherin Beyak, listed eight grounds for appeal in her notice, including that the jury’s verdicts were “inconsistent.”

Beyak also noted his plan to argue that the trial judge erred “in failing to exclude evidence obtained from an improperly executed search warrant.”

Sentences ‘not appropriate’

Regarding the appeal of the sentence, Beyak stated that he planned to argue that the trial judge “made findings that were unreasonable, unsupported by the evidence, and contrary to the jury’s verdict that Carbert was not guilty of conspiring to kill the police officer.”

The defense attorney wrote that the sentence imposed was “inappropriate.”

Both men received nearly four years’ credit for time spent in custody since their arrest in February 2022.

Dates for appeal arguments have not yet been set.

Earlier this year, two other protesters (Christopher Lysak and Jerry Morin) who faced similar charges, including conspiring to kill police, pleaded guilty to lesser firearms charges and received sentences equivalent to time previously served.